At 5/3/2016 9:44:27 PM, janesix wrote:Noam Chomsky believes language evolved in a saltational event 50 to 75 thousand years ago. Most scientists in the field believe language evolved much more gradually.

Science in a nutshell:
"Facts are neither true nor false. They simply are."
"All scientific knowledge is provisional. Even facts are provisional."
"We can be absolutely certain that we have a moon, we can be absolutely certain that water is made out of H2O, and we can be absolutely certain that the Earth is a sphere!"
"Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty -- some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain."

At 5/3/2016 9:44:27 PM, janesix wrote:Noam Chomsky believes language evolved in a saltational event 50 to 75 thousand years ago. Most scientists in the field believe language evolved much more gradually.

At 5/3/2016 9:44:27 PM, janesix wrote:Noam Chomsky believes language evolved in a saltational event 50 to 75 thousand years ago. Most scientists in the field believe language evolved much more gradually.

What is the dividing line between a 'basic/rudimentary method of communication' and a 'language'? Human languages are - for the sake of argument - vastly more expressive and complex than non-human-animal (NHA) means of communication and that expressiveness and complexity almost certainly developed very rapidly (as evolution defines rapid) so if 'language' means human-level communication then it could be said to be a saltation.

But if we lower the bar for what counts as a language to include more primitive forms of communication then it would be fair to say language developed gradually. So I repeat my first sentence: What is the dividing line between a 'basic/rudimentary method of communication' and a 'language'?